Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 244 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Kentucky Retirement Systems reduced its stake in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,721 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after selling 244 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in General Dynamics were worth $4,669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GD. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in General Dynamics during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Dynamics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Dynamics in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Financial Perspectives Inc lifted its position in General Dynamics by 195.0% in the fourth quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 118 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GD has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BTIG Research cut shares of General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. William Blair lowered General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on General Dynamics from $307.00 to $284.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price target (down from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Vertical Research cut General Dynamics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $352.00 to $290.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Dynamics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $298.59.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other General Dynamics news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of General Dynamics stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total value of $459,201.28. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,857,224. The trade was a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.52% of the company’s stock.

General Dynamics Stock Down 1.3 %

GD stock opened at $243.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.37. General Dynamics Co. has a fifty-two week low of $239.87 and a fifty-two week high of $316.90. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $259.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $282.54. The company has a market cap of $65.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.61.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a return on equity of 17.10% and a net margin of 7.93%. On average, research analysts expect that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were given a dividend of $1.42 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $5.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. General Dynamics’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.64%.

General Dynamics declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that allows the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization allows the aerospace company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

General Dynamics Profile

General Dynamics Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense company worldwide. It operates through four segments: Aerospace, Marine Systems, Combat Systems, and Technologies. The Aerospace segment produces and sells business jets; and offers aircraft maintenance and repair, management, aircraft-on-ground support and completion, charter, staffing, and fixed-base operator services.